EVIDENCE

AGAINST THE VIEWS OF THE

ABOLITIONISTS,

CONSISTING OF PHYSICAL AND MORAL

PROOFS,

OF THE NATURAL INFERIORITY

OF THE

NEGROES.

BY RICHARD H. COLFAX.

NEW-YORK.

JAMES T. M. BLEAKLEy, PUBLISHES, 240 HUDSON-STREET.

1833.

res. q&^s.si ao< &

Applegate, Printer, 257 Hudson-street,

TO THE PUBLIC.

There is a fashion now in vogue with many writers to ofter, by way of preface to the public, certain suspicious avowals of their own mo- desty in the form of an apology, for having written what is exception- able even in their own opinions ; and for which, in many instances that have fallen beneath general observation there has been so little sha- dow of necessity, that the world, instead of giving such authors any attention, have not perceived enough importance in their works to take that offence which only became manifest by the appearance of a well studied, though not well judged apology. It is to be hoped that a con- trary fortune awaits those who do not apologize, for we count our- selves among that number, which hope does not, indeed, appear to be entirely without foundation, for although individuals are not much ad- dicted to the fastidious observance of that rule which teaches men to pray for those who despitefully injure and abuse them personally.— Yet a contrary observation of the public at large, seems to be correct, for it is evidently an established fact, that in proportion to the con- tempt and disregard of public opinion with which any book is filled, so in a similar ratio is the author forthwith patronized. But it may not be so with these pages, for we do not conceive it necessary to put forth in them any scurrility, and the " fearful possibility- that they too may "go the way of all waste paper," is one potent reason why the author does not intend to apologize to a certain body of men, for speaking what he conceives to be truth, nor for drawing his own inferences from acknowledged facts ; neither for re-publishing the in- ferences of others. An explanation, however, of his reasons for holding forth many things contrary to the present state of public opinion, may be consistent with propriety, for it is assuredly a small compliment to the world to tell men that they are not well informed upon a subject, to elucidate which so many authors have expended their genius --and it would be proper to remind those whose religious sentiments maybe startled by the probable want of attention to inspired testimony which the following pages may exhibit, that the details ot this subject (as a philosophical question) are perfectly known only to Anatomists and Physiologists. I would likewise recommend to them this consideration-the operations of nature alone can create tacts,-

and if certain well attested truths which we shall herein bring to notice do war with pre-conceived opinions of men, they must, if any dissatis- faction is felt, go back [to that first cause which has made things as they are ; — and spare the writer some of that reprobation which his reason and sincerity alone and not his intention of offending public opinion, will have brought upon him.

The necessity of disagreeing with current supposition concerning the negro race, has been imposed upon me, in common with many others who have examined into * it, by the subject itself, or rather by that knowledge of some of its details which can be acquired only in the medical profession. I shall expect forgiveness therefore if, after stripping the subject of those technicalities which have hitherto kept it hidden from almost all but scientific men, our belief is found to be correct. On this condition I hope likewise to be discriminated from those, whose ostensible object in sending forth so many worse than useless infidel publications, is to offend the majority of mankind by assailing those predilections which if philosophers shall pronounce them unbased in science, are nevertheles, (as no one can deny,) "fail- ings that lean to virtue's side," and which do not in the present age, shackle the right of speech, liberty of conscience, or freedom of the press.

If, after these confessions, my remarks are tolerated by the public, it will display a libeiality which in our country, should be nothing new. But if they are not, then the writer'will descend again to that humble obscurity in which he was born, and from which no future attempt to u spit against the wind," can be expected to draw him.

New-York, November 1, 1833.

EVIDENCE

AGAINST THE VIEWS OF THE ABOLEVEONESTS.

Nature has so constituted the minds of those individuals who form integral parts of what is styled " civilized society," that they are never contented with what is undeniably good, but do continually languish after what they conceive to be better,— shewing one instance, at least, of the dangers that are liable to result from a misconception of terms ; and fully displaying that restless dissatisfaction, which we are taught to consider a peculiar attribute of refinement, and particularly of inde- pendence, A predisposition which, however, may have its use in creat- ing a portion of that wholesome agitation, which appeareth almost as indispensable to the well being of society, as it is to individuals; from which it would seem that the life of the former is as much a " forced state" as that of the latter is said to be, by certain philosophers.

History has not chronicled another age so remarkable as the pre- sent, for an inordinate degree of morbid sensibility and aimless suspi- cion concerning the existing state of those various moral and political systems which we have such good reason to be proud of as they are ! Such suspicions are not only necessary, but in the highest degree worthy of commendation in those countries where nothing is to be lost by any change ; but in our own country, they should be indulged in sparingly, lest that which is viewed with continual distrust, should ulti- mately become an object of settled dissatisfaction. A nd should such nefarious notions ever succeed in overturning the principles of our present glorious constitution, we may well ask ourselves " When comes such another ? "

Although the public rage for dissertations on political ceconomy, is more violent now than it ever was before, yet men have not learned from this sublime science how impossible it is, in the first place, and how useless in the second, to attempt such reformations of existing

necessary evils as the hypocritical Philanthropy of certain modern saints would recommend, but which the doctrine of expediency, a doctrine upon which even all religions are founded must condemn "in toto ;" indeed so numberless ere the Utopian schemes of innovation that have grown out of the disordered imaginations and religious pe- culiarities* of the nineteenth century, that they alone, would give a sa- tisfactory verification of the hacknied truism, which we shall here venture to quote,

" A new broom sweeps clean."

Scarcely does our wonder, (perhaps contempt,) of one of these propositions begin to subside,than we are again aroused by some new project whose dangerous inexpediency is only equalled by the match- less impudence with which it is brought forward, together with the dutiful acquiesence of those various flocks who think to render them- selves worthy of Heaven, (not unlike so many Mahomedans,) after lending their utmost influence towards the destruction of the lives and property of thousands of their fellow citizens. All of which they would do, to advance the cause of humanity and to shew their regard for the character and condition of the human race.

Among these systems of egregious error, there is one, now before the American public, which, as a grand moral and political question, in- volving the interest of a large portion of this union, demands the im- mediate consideration of every reflecting person. For, should the objects of the " total Abolitionists," ever succeed, the present gene- ration will have good cause to tremble for those which are yet unborn.

In some instances we are hurried so rapidly from the contempla- tion of one chimera to the detestation of another that it is nearly useless to oppose the " hue and cry," it passes away of its own accord, before we can prepare a systematic refutation of the error. But the project to emancipate the slaves has awakened a feeling which" will not die away with the unprincipled agitators who have created it.

The very watchfulness with which the interested parties view each other pre-supposes a jealousy, that cannot, and ought not, soon to be hushed.

The safety of our union has already been endangered by the influ- ence of certain well known men and measures, though an apology for

*By this expression is meant that happy faculty so pre-eminently useful in excusing- those various church usurpations, which every true christian cannot but lament, but which unlortunately are becoming as frequent as their object is palpable. Jt is not indeed a peculiarity to find jeligious, (or rather ir-religioas,) prejudices, interfering in the administration of secular affairs;— but surely it is not every age that can boast of so much ingenuity and refinement of ratiocination as to make the said interferences to coincide with the un-encroaching simplicity and unostentatious holiness which characterized the founder of true Christianity.

them has been found in the circumstance that all parties were immedi- ately interested, some in their success, and others, in their downfall. But we cannot easily perceive how the holding of slaves in Georgia can possibly interest the fanatics of Massachusetts. We do, indeed, hear much windy declamation about humanity, religion, sentiment, t:et hoc genus omne" but these words have now a different meaning from that which the stupid Lexicopraphers of old. were wont to give them : and prove nothing, save the injustice of a cause, which cannot be sus- tained by cool logical reasoning.

It is not to be supposed however, that any argument no matter how logical and conclusive upon either side of this vexed question will alter the opinions of those who have already taken sides, such is the violence of belie/without reason, a phrase which is now expressed by the word |C faith." But we hope to persuade those who are as yet undecided, not to join heedlessly a groundless crusade against our constitution led on by the influence of traitors! and which may end, soon- er or later, in the total subversion of our present form of government. It will be recollected that the chief arguments of the " total aboli- tionists" are grounded upon the supposition, 1st, That negroes and white men belong to one and the same species, and 2d, that their known want of intellect and mental capacity arises from their deficien- cy of education and from the peculiar habits that slavery has entailed upon them. The inferences from which are are 1st that they should be placed upon a public, as well as private foot ing of equality with white men; and 2nd, that an exemption from the above deteriorating causes ] will shew the pristine equality of negro intellect with that of white men.

Perhaps no cause however desperate in this debating age has found a dearth of advocates and consequently a number of writers have taken upon themselves the fearful task of proving the negro to be " God's own image, like ourselves, though carved

" In ebony \"^-

to our entire satisfaction. Now inasmuch as we feel ourselves com- petent to overturn the premises of such writers and their credulous satelites, we expect those who have not enlisted under their banners, to examine into the absurdity of their conclusions. As to the " total abolitionists," — they have pampered themselves with a surfeit of new ideas which having been already swallowed, must remain, in statu quo* it rests with us to prevent them from digesting their meaL

8

This can be done quite effectually, as we believe, by demonstrating to the public, that the physical and mental differences between ne- groes and white men, are sufficient to warrant us in affirming that they have descended from distinct origins, and that therefore no alteration of the social condition of the negro can be expected to create any change in his nature.

From which three positions, if well substantiated the aggregate in- ference will be that the negroes are totally incapable of self govern- ment, and utterly unworthy of those privileges which the " immediate abolitionists" would confer upon them. If this can be made to appear independently of those arguments and considerations which grow out of the constitutional privileges and political situation of the slave hold- ing states, then do we have " assurance doubly sure" that the views of the abolitionists and amalgamationists are as inexpedient as they are execrable.*

In conducting this controversy we shall take a review, first of the

PHYSICAL DISTINCTIONS.

Of these, the most striking peculiarity of the negro and that which is first taken into consideration by all writers, is the darkness of his colour and insomuch as the dispute concerning the race of the negro has been conducted with almost exclusive reference to this peculiarity it of course merits a more lengthy consideration than the limits of this publication will admit, but we can discuss the question elaborately enough to refute the various explanations of this peculiarity which have been given by those who deny that there are at least two distinct varieties of the genus homo. It has been asserted by those who main- tain the unity of the human species, that the operation of climate, to- gether with certain peculiarities of condition, tending to degeneracy, would alone suffice to produce all of those differences, so observable between the African and the European, without resorting to the hypo- thesis of an original difference. Among the advocates of this suppo- sition may be found the following names — Buffon, Blumenbach, Zim- merman, Winterbottom, Mitchell, and Smith — an array of authority which might be considered sufficient by many to substantiate any

*The total abolitionists appear to consider the political expediency of liberating the slaves as a secondary or minor consideration, and contend principally for the abstract justice of such a measure. We are willing to concede to them that all of GOD'S creatures have a natural right to liberty, and that the natural inferiority of the negro which we expect to prove, (but what our oponents do do* admit,) does not justify the white man in an assumption of unjust power. But when it is shown that the negro and his master, together with the noisy bigots of the north, are all benefited by the present condition of the slave?, then it is undeniably expedient in every view of the case ; — ergo, it is Just.

doctrine upon which it was brought to bear. But opposed to these w© have Boyle, Gibbon, Lord Karnes, Voltaire, Jefferson, Sir William Lawrence, and (if we may judge by his testimony,) the Baron de Humboldt, together with the concurrent testimony of various travellers, Historians and Geographers, who without any apparent view to the question before us, have afforded a vast deal of information tending to elucidate it. The celebrated Dr. Pritchard's researches and con- clusions are of such a nature that both sides may with propriety claim him as their champion.

Dr. Blumenbach first started the belief that the proximate cause of negro blackness " consists in the secretion of a greater quantity of carbon and its fixation by an union with oxygen in the rete mucosum,"* a belief which was quickly and extensively adopted, but which can only be held in defiance of a chemical fact now known toalmost every person. P^thaps a serious refutation of it would be unnecessary were it not for the influence cf Blumenbach's name, and we may venture to say that this circurns'ance alone has induced many to incline to this supposition who would otherwise have scouted it as ridiculous and unworthy of such a physiologist, for it is at most only an hypothesis of the wildest and most unfounded kind ; yet it has since been revived with some show of success, by Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith,")" in the the following words, which, as they contain the latest explanation that has been offered, of the influence of climate, we shall quote verbatim.

'* VVhen, from any cause, the billious secretion has been increased beyond its natural proportion, approaching tha surface of the body in the progress of circulation, the carbonic matter of its composition be- comes there attache dto the viscid mucoustw the cellular membrane of the skin, J while the more thin and volatile hydrogen with which it is com- bined having a stronger affinity and attraction with the Oxygen of the atmosphere and flying off first, leaves it precipitated and entangled in those cellswhere it stainsand discolours the complexion !" Essay p 56.

*To those unacquainted with the technicalities of Anatomy, it may be stated that the rete muco- sum is a tiiin mucous pHlicle or stratum interposed between the dead scarf-skin of the extreme sur- face and the more interna! true skin or cutis -vera — that which is seen exposed after the operRtion of a blister. This veto mucosum was discovered by Malpighi, an Italian anatomist in about the iniddle of the nineteenth ceclury who hereupon advanced the supposition that it was the seatof the colour of the negro, an idea which has since been proved correct.

t Samuel Stanhope Smith, «■■ President of the College of New Jersey, and Member of the American Philosophical Society, D. D. and L. L. D- wrote, and what is worse, published an octavo volume of more than -iQ9 pages upon a subject which belongs more properly to one having some knowledge of physiology an anatomy. His work is entitled '« An essay on the causes of the variety of complexion and figure of the human species," to which, in the' second edition are added three appendices containing remarks on Mr. White of Manchester, Strictures on Lord Kamei, and Moral Observations on the North American Indians.

f We presume the Doctor refers to the " rete mucosum."— C. B

10

The train of reasoning by which this conclusion is brought about is as follows, w warm climates invariably predispose men, as Blumenbach has argued, to a redundancy of the billious secretion and the smallest surcharge of this secretion imparts to the skin a yellow appearance, which, by remaining long in contact with the at- mosphere, assumes a darker hue, anu if exposed at the same time to the immediate influence of the sun, approaches (according to the heat of the climate and the degree in which the bile prevails) towards the black."

From these quotations one would be led to suppose that the exha- lations from the negro's skin were not similar to those of white men, which they are excepting in quantity, by which difference indeed, the physiologists have accounted for the strong scent of the negro's skin. But if, as these writers have endeavoured to convince us, there is any specific difference in the exhalations, then certainly we would not wish a more decided mark of a corresponding difference of organiza- tion. Such being not the case however, we may consistently enquire, How is it that there are any white men, if there are no specific dif- ferences in the " rete mucosum" 1 for it is certain that there are none in the exhalations.

Dr. Blumenbach's knowledge of Physiology certainly would not allow him to suppose what he never asserted, viz, that the nature of the functions of the two races differed from any essential manner of formation, and yet with all this acknowledged similarity of general or- ganization, the "rete mucosum" of the negro is black and this co- lour, moreover, is transmitted to his offspring.

Apprehending that^ome may suppose these observations rather con- tradictory in their import, we shall make a short digression explana- tory of the concession that the organization of the black is similar to that of white men, or in fact that both races are in this point precisely

alike ; by the term "organized being" we mean one whose several

parts are properly endowed with blood vessels, nerves and absorbents eo arranged as to carry on, as it were spontaneously, certain functions or uses for which nature seems to have created every part. Now lest it may be contended that negroes and white men are of one spe- cies because they have the same organization we would observe, that were this any criterion of a species, then with the same propriety, many of the inferior animals might as well be admitted into the genus homo, as the negroes. For it is obvious that many of those animals inclu-

11

*5ed in the class mammalia differfrommin only in figure, their organ- ization is the same, their blood appears to be the same, in some in- stances even the various parts of their bodies slightly modified, (to suit their peculiar habits) are the same, and if we analize their bones,mus- cles, ligaments, &c. we shall discover the same elements, varying only in some slight proportions ; it will not hence be inferred that they are of one species.

The differences therefore which we observe among animals must be explained by supposing them to be composed of different propor- tions of the same elements.

The assertion that the exhalations from the surface of the white man are similar in their nature to the black may be demonstrated prac- tically by a chemical analysis of any water in which the body of a man may have been immersed* and although this goes far to render theo- retical evidence superfluous yet we shall allude to an analogy between the function of the Lungs, and that of the skin, which will serve still better to overturn the best hypothetical, and almost the only elucida- tion of the cause of negro blackness which has as yet been given by the disciples of Blumenbach.

It is believed by the most eminent modern chemists and physiolo- gists that the carbon of that blood which is carried to the lungs is there secreted from the extreme vessels in such a minute state of di- vision, that a chemical combination ensues between it and the oxygen of the atmosphere whereby the blood is much purified and deprived of its grosser materials ; andin this regenerated state it returns to the heart, from which it is again sent to the various parts of the system. The carbon of the system in like manner is secreted from the skin both of negroes and white men and leads us to suppose that nature has de- signed this as one method of decarbonizing the blood though of course to a very trifling extent when compared with the lungs. JVow, if the carbon which is deposited in the lungs in such large quantities, combines so readily with the oxygen there why do not the disciples of Blumenbach admit that the same effect would take place in the skin.

We have proved from the circumstance that a large quantity of car- bonic acid is formed upon the surface, that this effect actually does take place, so that the blackness of the negro cannot be owing to the presence of carbon in the rete mucosum. For it is plain that the at-

* Vide «« Anatomy by J. & C. [Bell, with Godman's Notes,"— Volume 2, p 291, in which it -will be seen that lime water, (the utual chemical test, in the above experiment) will instantly detect %b* presence of carbonic acid.

13

mosphere is too closely in contact with the " rete mucosum," it cannot be said that the scarf skin is impervious, for chlorine gas has the tem- porary effect of whitening any part of the surface of a negroe to which it may be applied.* In addition to this it may be mentioned that oxygen never has the effect of causing the " fixation" which Dr. Smith speaks of.

Nothing in medical practice is more common than to find men with a yellow skin arising from disease of the liver, who have been in that situation for many years, perhaps during the greater part of a long life — why is it that the exposures to the sun and atmosphere never caused them or their ofFsping to assume the black colour, fiat nose and curly hair of the African? and Winterbottom assures us that " the sickness which changes the skin of the European to a yellow colour, causes that of the African to assume a lighter hue." | An observation which almost every medical practitioner will confirm of those negroes in the United States.

•' Apart from these objections to Blumenbach's theory, there are cer- tain anomalies in the natural history of man which may also be quoted in contradiction to the aHedged effects of climate.

" A boy born in Virginia, of black parenis, commenced in the 4th year of his age to change colour, white specks made their appearance first on his neck and breast, which gradually increasing in size and number, he became ultimately completely dappled."

The second instance is that of a woman, also a native of Virginia, whose dark colour remained unchanged until the 25th year of her age, when she underwent a similar alteration. About four-fifths of her face and body became white, whilst the neck and back were almost unchanged.

The third instance is that of Henry Mos?, a negro of Maryland, whose natural colour at the age of 40 began to change, first about the abdomen, the whiteness subsequently overspreading the remain- der of his body.

These instances together with another which Blumenbach witness- ed in London, of a negro who, after the age of manhood, became pied or spotted, have been paraded before the world, by those who main- tain the unity of the human species, with every show of triumph, as

T- * Dr, Beddoes subjected the feet of a nogroe to the action of oxy-muriatic acid, by whtch'they were perfectly whitened and the colour did not return in two or three days. He performed tho same experiment upon the fingers of another.

f Account of the Native African, in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leoao."~u r.quotei ia £din. Eficjalopeedia

IS

indicating a disposition in nature to break through those bonds which the fortuitous circumstances of hot climates, and redundancy of bile have imposed upon her, and to assume that whiteness " which" ac- cording to BufFon, " is the primitive complexion of all men, and from which the colour of the negro is only a degeneracy."

Dr. S. S. Smith having enjoyed this triumph more extravagantly than any other author, let us enquire ; can these changes be ex- plained according to his theory of colour, borrowed from Rlumen- bach 1 — we will, no doubt, be answered by some of the " immediate Abolitionists" that ihose persons suddenly recovered from the hepatic disease which the African climate had inflicted upon their ancestors, and who had entailed it upon their children. We know of no other explanation that would suit them ; and yet we are told that in neither of these ca?es did there appear to be the least constitutional alteration as there should have been, in one suddenly recovering from such a serious iilness.

And in the third instance, (that of Henry Moss,) " this change'' (from black to white,) " proceeded most rapidly and regularly in the Summer Season ! appearing entirely suspended during Winter." It would, we presume have been more pleasing to Dr. Smith, and more consonant with his favorite theory, had the reverse of this order taken place; which, as we suspect, is his reason for suppressing this piece of information, which has not been given in any part M' his essay, (vide page 92.) Another specimen of this gentlemen's sagacity may be found in his lack of memory, concerning the peeiigree of the person in question, which upon referring to other authors, I find to be as follows. His paternal Grandfather was born in Africa, and having been brought to America, married an Indian Woman, a native of Pennsyl- vania, the offspring of which couple, (the father of Moss,) may therefore be considered as half Indian. His maternal Grandfather was also born in Africa, and married an Irish woman, from whom came Moss' mother. And although the complexion of Moss might have been as dark as any African, yet in his nature, he could not have been more than half negro.

We cannot, therefore, be surprised that his affinity to both the races from which he descended, should have been manifested in some way, and at some period of his life. Had he been born with a dark yellow skin, as children of such parents usually are, we may venture to affirm that no such change would have been exhibited : for this oc-

14

currence would have sufficiently indicated his mongrel origin. But we are informed that " he himself till he arrived at the age of 40, was of as dark a complexion as any African," if his colour then had not chan- ged, no person would have thought it necessary to enquire into his his lory.

This evidence of a mixed breed, however is not always manifested in the first generation, sometimes it is not seen until the third or perhaps the fourth generation.

There are cases of pied or spotted persons related by Mr. White of Manchester, which give us still more incontestible evidence of the mistake of those, who refer us to the effects of hot climates, for an ex- planation of the African complexion. The first case, was that of a ne- gress, who had twins by an Englishman, one of which resembled in every respect its African mother, whilst the other differed so entirely from the first, (being of European complexion and lineaments,) that few would have guessed their consanguinity ! let us here offer another interrogatory to the disciples of Smith and Blumenbach ; how came the nature of these two children to differ so materially ? and why did one of them only feel, and be influenced by the darkening effects of English Climate 1 But the second case narrated by Mr. White, and which we intend here to quote, affords a still more triumphant refuta- tion of the doctrine of solar influence.

A white woman having married a negro, their offspring was white in every part with the exception of the right hip, and part of the thigh, *' which were as black as the father's." It appears to us that professor Plumenbach, who witnessed a similar case, must have been puzzled to explain why the hepatic disease of this child should have operated upon such a small portion of its surface, rende.iug that quite black, while the remainder was unaltered.

If colour be, (in the words of a certain modern sciolist) " of no importance in the eye of nature" and if the peculiar colour and quali- ties of the negroe, do not belong to him as a distinct species, then, why does it appear necessary uin the eye of nature," always to demonstrate either in the first, second or third generation of descen- dants from such parents, that there were any differences in the origi- nal stock.

Sir Wm. Lawrence though a dis-believer in the unity of the human species, is nevertheless of opinion, that some stronger argument than that drawn from varieties of complexion is needed, to prove our di-

15

versity s yet he acknowledges that the effects of climate will not ex- plain these varieties. He accordingly furnishes us with other argu- ments, which shall be quoted subsequently. But if it can be shown that no Europeans who have left their native country, and settled into climates equally hot with that of Ethiopia, have yet manifested any approach towards the negro peculiarity, except those common effects of tke sun, which are never transmitted to children, and if it can be shown that those generations of negroes, born in cold or in temper- ate climates, so far from assimilating the Europeans, do invariably return to the pristine complexion of their race, (although we are told that "they are not born black*") then we hesitate not to affirm that our belief will stil! be well founded, even without those other evidences, which *re so highly prized by Sir Wm. Lawrence.

Having now hastily discussed the alledged "modus operandi" of hot climates upon the rete mucosnm, let us turn to another important consideration. It was asserted by the celebrated Camper, and believed by Pritchard that no accidental peculiarity of any animal could, ex. cepting by some enormal process of nature, be transmitted to the offspring. By these accidental peculiarities, we mean such as are induced° by external, mechanical or chemical causes. Thus although a dog may be deprived of his tail, or otherwise mutilated yet his off- spring will not exhibit any such imperfection ; as soon might we expect a child to be born with a set of incorruptible porcelain teeth, whose mother had been thus provided.

« Were it not for this wise provision of nature," says Pritchard, "there would be such endless and confused varieties among animals that all attempts at classification would prove abortive" from which we argue, that if the black color of the negro resulted from the mere chemical effects of the sun, then it would not be transmitted to sue* ceeding generations.

We cannot better illustrate the force of this argument, than by mentioning the following fact. The children of those West Indian Planters who came originally from Europe, (and who have not inter- married with blacks,) when they are not allowed to expose themselves grow up as fair as the Europeans— although their parents may be muchsunburnt ; whilst no such result can be obtained, (with all the care that may be bestowed,) upon experimenting with negroes,

* This fact, related by Winterbottom, has been seized upon by our opponents and enlarged ?MJ with much £ant of prudence on tbeir part-for the ingenious reader -will eas.ly perceive .that tbtt propensity of the negro to turn black after havinj been born white, fully displays his nature.

rt cannot be denied that there are many specious arguments against the belief which we have adopted: 3uch as the darkness of those Afri- cans who live under the equator, and the olive complexion of the more southern Europeans, together with the fainess of those who live in temperate climates, and likewise the well known fact, that expo- sure to the sun, will cause the skin to assume a dark brown hue* But here our opponents' catalogue of arguments must stop for hypothesis alone is all else, that can be resorted to.

It is indeed true that the iirhabitants of the torrid zone are, for the most part of a darker colour than those in the temperate zone, but in this assertion " there is involved" says Sir Win. Lawrence " a petitio principii" — for it assumed that all nations of people found in the tor- rid zone must be black, and that the inhabitants of cold climates must be fair, a rule to which there are so many extensive exceptions that it must ultimately be abandoned.

• " The black colour of negroes, thick lips, flat nose, crisped woolly hair, and rank smell,''— says Lord Karnes, •' distinguish them from every other race of men, the Abyssinians, on the contrary, are tall and well made, their complexion a brown olive, features well proportioned, lips thin, &c." — " There is no such difference in climate between Abyssinia and negroland as to produce these striking differences."* In reply to this, it has been urged that the face of the country of Abyssinia is much elevated, dry and airy ; but the case is different with the country of the Jaloffs, (a tribe bordering on the river Sene- gal,) who are, according to the accounts of travellers, equally fair with the Abyssinians. «« Man," says Ruffon, " white in Europe, black in Africa, yellow in Asia, and red in America, is still the same animal tinged only with the colour of the climate. Where the heat is exces- sive, as in Guinea and Senegal, the people are perfectly black ; where it is more temperate, as in Barbary and in Arabia, they are brown J and where mild as in Europe and Lesser Asia, they are fair." To this, Lord Karnes in his admirable discourse, proving the diversity of

the human species, has the following conclusive refutation. "But

here he (Buffon) triumphs without a victory, he is forced to acknowl- edge that the Samoides, Laplanders, and Graenlanders are of a sal- low complexion, for which he has the following salvo: that the extrem- ities of heat and cold, produce nearly the same effects on the skin. But he is totally silent upon a fact, that alone overturns his whole sys-

* Vide " Sketches ©Mbe history of man." "Preliminary Discourse.'

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t«m of colour, viz. that all Americans without exception, are of a copper colour, though in that vast continent there it every variety of climate * The southern Chinese are white though in the neighbour- hood of the torrid zone ; and women of fashion in the island of Ota- heite, who cover themselves from the sun,have the European complex- ion. Neither does the black colour of some Africans, nor the brown colour of others, correspond to the climate. The people of the desert of Zaara, commonly termed lower Ethiopia, though exposed to the vertical rays of the sun in a burning sand, (yielding not, in heat, even to Guinea,) are of a tawny colour, far from being jet black like ne- groes." " Nor will our author's ingenious observation, concerning the extremities of heat and cold, account for the sallow complexion of the Samoides, Laplanders, and Greenlanders. The Finlanders and northern Norwegians, live in a climate no less cold than that of the people mentioned, and yet are fair beyond other Europeans."— His Lordship thus continues,-" The Moors in Hindostan retain t leir natural colour 'tho transplanted there centuries ago. And the Mogul family continue white, like their ancestors the Tartars, though they have reigned in Hindostan above four centuries Sfyaw, in his travels through Barbary, mentions a people inhabiting the mountains of Auress, bordering upon Algiers on the south, who appeared to be of a different race from the Moors, their complexion far from swarthy, is fair and ruddy, and their hair a deep yellow, instead of being dark as among the neighbouring Moors. He conjectures them to be a rem- nant of the Vandals, perhaps the tribe mentioned by Procopius in his first book of the Vandalic war. If the European complexion be proof against a hot climate for a thousand years, I venture to pro- nounce that it will never yield to climate. In the suburbs of Cochin, a town in Malabar, there is a colony of industrious Jews of the same complexion they have in Europe. They pretend that they were esta- blished there during the captivity of Babylon. It is certain that they have been many ages in that counrty." — (page 16. "Sketches.") These geographical observations are fuuhe* enlarged upon by Sir Wm. Lawrence in the following words. " How does it happen that the same sun which makes the African black, tinges the American of a copper colour ? and that the dark hue which might possibly be pro- duced by heat in the equatorial regions, should be found also in the

* Pr.fS- S. Smith, (before quoted.) in certain strictures upon Lord Kames, objects to the genera ■nature of his Lordship's infidelity, &c- but he has not attempted to refute such arguments as the abov*, probably for reasons best known to himself. C

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cold and inhospitable tracts of Terra del Fuego, .and the most north- ern part of the continent V9 Again " a very cursory survey of the globe will show us that the same regions have been occupied by men of different races, without any interchange of characters, in many in- stances for several centuries." Again, " Negroes have been intro- duced into the new world for a great length of time, they live under new climates, and have adopted new habits, yet they have still woolly hair, thick lips, black skins, flat noses and all the other characters of their race." In another part of his work he observes that the co- lour of the negro race "never has been changed by climate, even in the longest series of ages." It is from these and other observations of the same author, which will appear in their proper place, that we re- solved to place him on the . catalogue of disbelievers in the unity of the human species, although he wishes to be considered otherwise by the world at large,* probably from Dr. Smith's " motive of charity" towards the negroes.

Let us now listen to the testimony of Humboldt. " Over a mil- lion and a half of square leagues, from the Terra del Fuego Islands to the River St. Lawrence and Behring's Straits, we are struck, at the first glance, with the general resemblance in the features of the inhab- itants," although on this vast continent, there is every possible varia- tion of climate, included between the equator in the middle and the poles at either extremity, nor do the variations of the face of the coun- try appear to cause any difference ; for those natives who roam among the highest peaks of the Cordilleras, differ not in the least from those who inhabit the deep vallies below, yet the tops of these mountains are covered with snow, whilst the heat of the torrid zone, burns at their feet.

It cannot be said that the southern part of the great continent of America, has been so recently peopled that the nations settled there, have not had time to degenerate, for certain recent investigations have been made in Peru, which will convince the most sceptical, that there must have been inhabitants in that country, in the earliest ages, and from whom the present natives have descended. The remains of a

* This gentleman has an original method of promulgating his doctrine upon this subject, he sets forth by declariug that he believes the whites and blacks to be of one species, but tells us afterwards that *' it does not follow that both varieties have descended from one family" — and again, " We cannot yet assume it as a point fully proved, that all the varieties of man have been produced from one and the same breed." Page 476, Lectures, — I can attribute his contradictory remarks to nothing but a wish to save his credit with the public, for after avowing his friendliness towards the blacks, he brings up a host of the most powerful phrenological and other arguments to prove them of » distinct ipecies.

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magnificent city have been discovered there, buried beneath the sur- face, of which the earliest travellers in that region, do not mention any record ; no tradition concerning the mighty convulsion which must have been the cause of its present condition has been handed down, although such traditions, among rude nations are usually transmitted with the most scrupulous care, from one generation to another. It would not be assuming too much, therefore, to fix the date of this city, at least two thousand years ago, as any person will admit who will take into consideration the time which has elapsed since the discovery of Peru, and the time which must have elapsed after the destruction of the city in question, and the loss of all traditions concerning it, let them also consider what a length of time must have passed away, ere the people of those early ages, became sufficiently civilized to project, and afterwards to execute such a magnificent piece of architectural excellence. From these considerations we conclude that South America, in the equatorial region, was inhabited at least two thousand years ago,* and yet in this great length of time, the people living un- der the equator in that country, have degenerated only to a light olive color, how long then would it be before these people could become negroes, by the gradual operation of climate 1 If the Africans requi- red so much time to complete their change, then, the Mosaic date, and account of creation must be wrong, for the negroes are a very ancient people, and have been mentioned as existing with black complexions, crisped hair, &c. long before the Christain era, say 1000 years, be- tween which time and the commencement of the world, (according to Moses,) 3000 years supervened. The negroes of the year three thousand must therefore have completed their change, in the time which supervened, between this date, and the date of the desertion of the ark, by the family of Noah, comprising a period of only about 1350 years.

We have made this calculation upon the supposition that the book of Genesis, is a " true and correct history," which indeed cannot readily be acknowledged, for as a writer in the British Encyclopedia has said — "We shall venture to submit that the Mosaic account does not make it quite clear that the inhabitants of all the world have descen- ded from Adam and Eve ; — We are told indeed that 'Adam called his wife's name Eve, because ehe was the mother of all living,' — But in

*This is only a minimum calculation, or one ■which can be made with comparative certainty.— Our own belief, drawn from the populousness of the continent of America, and especially of Mexi- co and Peru, wheo first discovered, is that at least 4000 years have,passed away, since thi» eont. neat wai firstpeopled by a few emigrant* from Aiia.

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the first chapter of Genesis, we learn that God created male and fe- male; and this seems to have been previously to the formation of Eve ; which did not take place until after the garden of Eden had been made. Again, we are informed, in the fifth chapter of Gene- sis that, 'in the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him, male arid female created he them ; and blessed them ; and called their name Adam in the day when they were created.' We find also that Cain after slaying his brother went into a distant land, and was married, although it does not appear that Eve had produced any daughters before this time/'

Mr. Boyle, one of the greatest of Christian Philosophers cherished a doubt upon this subject which was not removed at the day of his death,* «Pon which the following observation apears in the Edin- burgh Encyclopoedia. " What is worthy of remark, one of the first who maintained that climate alone could not produce the negro black- ness was Boyle* a name which ought to secure this opinion equally and at once from the charge of want of Philosophy and want of Re- ligion." Dr. Caldwell, of Philadelphia likewise finds it impossible

to coincide with " every sentiment extorted by construction from the Old and New Testaments."! And ingeniously refutes Dr. Pritchard with the very words of the latter.

We have already mentioned the axiom in Physiology, that acciden- tal peculiarities of individuals, are never transmitted to succeding gen- erations, and according to this rule, the color of the negro cannot be owino" to the accidental circumstance of hot climates, otherwise it would not be transmitted to posterity ; now, however inclined we might be to admit the power of hot climates, to change the complexion of men, yet when we are told that this likewise is the cause of the the wooliness of the negroe's hair, we must declare our credulity too much imposed upon, for when we again cast our eye over the map of the world, we see that there are whole nations"of people, inhabitants of the torrid zone, whose hair is long and straight,— be this as it may, who is willing to adopt the following explanation of this peculiarity, — " almost the whole region embraced between the tropics is a tract of sand that often literally burns. This state, not of the atmosphere only, but especially of the earth, in the dust of which, young savages, utterly neglectful of decency of manners, often roll themselves, will

• Vide " Shaw's abridgment of Boyle's works."

f Vide »« Thought* on the original unitj of the human race."

it

have its effect in increasing the close nap of the wool, for the samd reason that a hair, held near a flame will coil itself up,"* undoubtedly such an author being of the tltrue church militant" has a legitimate right to rail out against bigotry, ignorance and want of philosophy ; beyond all question likewise, does he deserve to Le styled a close rea- soner. Yet we cannot avoid classing this philosopher with another (mentioned by Lord Karnes) who attributed the black colour of the negroes to an ancient practice among the Africans of dying and painting their skins.

Let us, with Dr. Smith, " try a simple experiment with ourselves" take a child, (a white one will answer best, for according to this au- thor all men were originally white ) place him in a temperature equal in intensity to the torrid zone, or carry him to the equator itself, will his hair Vecome black and crisp 1 even though his life should be spent in this climate ? perhaps it may be said that such a change requires ages for its completion, but here let our worthy opponents recollect the lapse of time which has passed over the people of South America, and yet they are wanting in the crisp, black and curly hair, which ac- cording to Blumenbach, Smith, and others, ought to characterize all who live in hot climates. Again, let us repeat our favorite observation, If such an effect could possibly be produced upon any individual, it (being a purely accidental alteration) would never be transmitted to the children of that individual. The offspring of an African Albino and a European is of a dark yellow or mulatto complexion, though both parents are white, in this case at least the accidental peculiarity of thealbino does not affect his child, (see our page 15.) F rom which we argue that these distinct peculiarities of the negroeare[characteris- tics of another species, differing vastly and very essentialy from white men.

We have been told that, if from the peculiarities of the negro race we infer a variety of species, then the same inference may be drawn from a view of the hideous deformity of some of the Hyperborean va- riety, the Esquimaux for example, who according to the reports of tra- vellers, are little elevated above the level of their own dogs ; this in a great measure is true, but their complexion is not black, although very dark, and their hair is long and straight, and besides, the young Es- quimaux do not exhibit the hideousness of their parents.

We may here be considered as conceding that climate and habiti

* Vii» Smiths E»*ar, p«f« 96, 5d edition.

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alter these people as they grow up, which we do inpartadmit for every one is aware of the fact that men who live in a filthy manner, who spend their days in eating, drinking and sleeping always become fat, gross, and unwieldy — if this is any concession our opponents are wel- come to make the most of it.

We shall now examine into the question — what is the true criterion of a species ? An English anatomist, Ray, first proposed the follow - criterion, which was subsequently adopted and inculcated by BufFon, and John Hunter, " Any two animals that can procreate together and whose issue can also procreate, are of the same species" here again, says Lord Karnes, " is a petitio principii," — for it is thus as- sumed that no two animals of different species can procreate together. " And were it not for this wise provision of nature," says Pritchard, " we should have interminable varieties of animals." Now the fact is, nature does not deserve this sublime encomium, for it has been prov- ed iacontestibly that animals of different species, or at least of spe- cies which are generally acknowledged to be different, can produce a prolific offspring, how else shall we explain the origin of those eter- nal varieties of living things, which are known to man, leaving an equal number, in all propability which he has never dreamed of, out of the question t

How many thousands of fishes, birds and "quadrupeds, are there so different from others of their class that we cannot suppose them to have originated thus directly from the hand of the creator. Again, will any one believe Jhat the Ark of Noah was sufficiently capacious to hold one pair of each variety with which we are now acquainted t surely not, if they but turn to the works of that splendid writer and indus- trious collector of materials, but ignof ant physiologist, Buffon.*

Let us for a while adopt a belief which, after all, seems most con- sistent with nature, that the figure and colour of animals, provided this figure and colour be regularly transmitted from one generation to another, is the proper criterion of a species. It will appear then that the camel and the dromedary are not of the same species, (which no one will deny, who is willing to assert that a horse and an ass are in- dividuals of different species,) yet the camel and dromedary " propa- gate together no less freely than the different races of men and of

* " The length of this Ark was 300 cubits, which according: to Arbuthnot's calculation, amount to * little more than 547 feet ; its breadth, 50 cubits, or 91.2 feet ; its heighth, 30 cubits, or 54.72 feet." '• Comprising three storiei." Brown's Dictionary of Biblt.

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dogs," and furthermore, their offspring is equally prolific. The goat and the sheep, according to Buffon, are of different species, and so they are according to the criterion which we have adopted, yet there is generated from these a mixed breed no less prolific than the ori- ginals. Greyhounds, mastiffs, bull dogs, pointers and spaniels, are not of one species, yet certain it is that these varieties propagate freely, however they may differ in structure. And even wolves have been known to generate a prolific offspring from some of the larger varie- ties of dogs, in addition to the above we may be allowed to quote the following analogies from Sir Wm. Lawrence. " The cock and hen canary birds produce with the cock and hen siskin and goldfinch ; the hen canary produces with the cock chaffinch, bullfinch, yellow ham- mer, and sparrow. The progeny in these cases is prolific, and breeds not only with both the species from which they spring, but likewise with each other," — many others are mentioned by this author, but the analogies already produced are sufficient to overturn the criterion of Ray and Buffon — whilst the only objection that can be brought against the more natural arrangement, based upon anatomical and ex- ternal configuration, is that there are some birds, the male and female of which do not at all resemble each other.

It was from a view of the gradual and almost imperceptible descent, from one species of animals to the other, that the amusing as well as instructing speculations of Mr. White, of Manchester, arose. This author in his regular scale of gradations, in order to complete the chain, places the negro intermediate between man and the lower ani- mals or brutes, and ingeniously demonstrates the average intellect of the negro race, to be exactly intermediate between the superior order of beasts, such as the elephant, dog or orang outang*; and Europeans or white men. A remark which seems to be based upon correct and philosophical observations, for the physical differences between the white men and negroes, as in colour, hair, lips, cranium, &c. are cer- tainly as great as that between negroes and some of the simice. From an observation of this kind, Linnaeus refused to give the generic characters of man, affirming that " the essential distinctions between man and the simise remained to be discovered." The same observa- tions induced Rosseau and Lord Monboddo to believe that men were only a superior order of apes, or tail-less monkies, and it must be ac- knowledged that the analogy, between some of the individuals of these two orders, is not very complimentary to human nature.

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But the most important conclusions upon this subject, will be drawn from a view of the developement of the negro brain, nerves and in- tellect, as compared with the white man, comprising the

MENTAL DISTINCTIONS.

Professor Soemmering long since demonstrated, that the nerves of the negro were much larger than those of white men, and that, in this respect, the negroes make a close approach towards the nature of the inferior classes of animals. For it is an established axiom, that in proportion as the nerves are largely developed, so do the animal attri- butes exceed the powers of intellect. For that portion of the brain which presides over the organic or animal functions, and from which the nerves have their more immediate origin, will, in the same ratio, exceed in size the superior or thinking portion. It is now univer- sally acknowledged, that the developement of the brain, or of differ- ent portions of that organ, directly controls the power of the mind. Hence, although the actual size of the elephant's brain, is equal or even above that of man, yet this superiority is more than counterba- lanced, by the peculiar proportions of the parts of his brain ; for it will be found upon examination, that, the proportion of his brain, which presides over the animal functions, (and from which the nerves arise,) bears a greater portion to the thinking part than it does in man. The smallest brain which Soemmering ever found in a man, weighed two pounds five and a half ounces, whilst the largest he ever found in a horse, weighed one pound four ounces, being about one fourth the size of the other ; yet the nerves of the horse were computed to be about ten times larger than those of the man, so that the inferiority of the horse's intellect, resulted as well from a redundancy of nerve, as from deficiency of brain. But we need not resort to analogies of this kind, to prove the truth of the doctrines of Phrenology ; let us attend more particularly to men, and we shall become convinced with Sir William Lawrence, — that "people of slanting foreheads, and low vertices, never can become great or elevated."

Again, " the distinction of colour between the white and black races, is not more striking than the pre-eminence of the former in moral feelings and in mental endowments," (P. 409.) A fact, to ex- plain which, only one glance at the phrenological attributes of the negro is required ; — thus closing at once a controversy, which, without, the aid of the science of phrenology, might be continued unsettled for ages.

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The lengthy arguments concerning the intellect of the negroe drawn from history, and the numerous explanations of his mental inferiority, which have at various times been given, (without supposing him of a distinct species, )are rendered totally useless, if it can be shown, that, the portion of his brain, which presides over the animal functions, ex- ceeds,to any great extent, that from which the mental endowments arise. Furthermore, although we are not believers in physiognomy, (as a science,) yet we cannot avoid making a remark upon the negro's face, which may not be entirely overlooked — although we may thereby risk the commission of a tautology.

His lips are thick, his zygomatic muscles, large and full,* — his jaws large and projecting, — his chin retreating, — bis forehead low, flat, and slanting, and (as a consequence of this latter character,) his eyeballs are very prominent, — apparently larger than those of white men ; — all of these peculiarities at the same time contributing to reduce his facial angle almost to a level with that of the brute. — Can any such man become great or elevated ? — the history of the Africans will give a decisive answer. Even the ancients were fully aware of this kind of mutual coincidence, between the facial angle, and the powers of the mind : consequently, in their statues of heroes and philosophers, they usually extended the angle to 90 degrees, — making that of the Gods to be 100: beyond which, in cannot be enlarged without defor- mity. Modern anatomists have fixed the average facial angle of the European at 80, —negro 70, — ourang outang 58, — all brutes below TO, the average angle of quadrupeds being about 20. J We do not intend to assert that the ancient sculptors, were refined phrenologists: but the tact for correct minute observation, which is so manifest in all those works, whether of literature or of art, which have been handed down to us, is no where so palpable, as in the heads of their statues of ideal personages. They well knew the intimate connexion be- tween the mind and the brain ; hence in the statues of those Gods, who were supposed to be endowed with superhuman intellect, they have made the upper and frontal parts of the head, so protuberent and large,

* "These muscles are always in action during laughier and the extreme enlargement of them indicates a low mind." Lavater

t This criterion of the size of the brain was instituted by the celebrated Camper, and although it is liable to variations in its application to individuals, yet in drawing general conclusions it is sufficient- ly accurate, The angle is thus formed, a line is supposed to be drawn from fhe external opening of the ear transversely across the face, on a level with the roof of the mouth, another line is drawn, ex - tending from the roost projecting part of the forehead downwards ; — so as to touch the most promi- nent part of the upper jaw, at the root of the nose. The superior part of the brain is supposed to he developed in a direct proportion to the size of the angle formed by the junction ef these two lines.

as to approach enormity. On the contrary, the head of Hercules has been represented large in its posterior and lower portions, and small in front, because the physical strength of this deity, somewhat exceed- ed his intellect * The owl was selected by the ancients as an emblem of Minerva, (the Goddess of wisdom,) and as a symbol of the city of Athens, not on account of his superior intellect, but because of the perpendicularity of his physiognomy — whilst the bull, on the contra- ry, from his small facial angle, and general stupid appearance, was made a type of the people of Beotia ; who Were characterised by much dullness, and obtuseness of intellect, when compared with other Greeks.

If then it is consistent with science, to believe that the mind will be great in proportion to the size and figure of the brain : it is equally reasonable to suppose, that the acknowledged meanness of the ne- groe's intellect, only coincides with the shape of his head ; or in other worde*, that his want of capability to receive a complicated education venders it improper and impolitic, that he should he allowed the privi- leges of citizenship in an enlightened country ! It is in vain for the Amalgamationists to tell us that the negroes have had no opportunity to improve^ or have had less opportunities than European nations ; the public are well aware that three or four thousand years could not have passed away, without throwing advantages in the way of the .Africans ; yet in all this time, with every advantage that liberty, and their prox- imity to refined nations could bestow, they have never even attempted to raise themselves above their present equivocal station, in the great zoological chain. The aboriginals of America, as Mr. Jefferson re- marks—frequently exhibit some of the noblest efforts of imagination, as well in their common language, as in the more studied peices of oratory. The romantic wildness of some of their traditions, even civilized writers may in vain attempt to imitate , and many of their songs and choruses, approach so near to the sublimity of the ancient Greek tragic poets, that the resemblance has not been passed unno ticed.

It has indeed been said, that " these vigorous efforts of soul, are only perceived while they enjoy their rude independence"— have the Africans then never enjoyed the same rude independence ? they certainly have. But where has any of their native brilliancy, (we

* This same ingenuity and correctness of idea is manifested very strikingly in the statue of the ••Venus de Medicis"— in constructing the head of which the artist has made the organs of Ama- tiveness, Philoprogenitiveness, &c. much to exceed, in proportion, the more intellectual organs and finely to coineide with the voluptuosness of the "tout ensemble."

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had almost said mecfiocrity,) been exhibited ? It is true that some small scintillations have appeared in a^ few individuals ; but the re- mainder have sunk into the lowest pit of degradation. [The poems of Phyllis Whately, and the letters of Ignatius Sancho, have been hinted at ; but both of these productions, says Mr. Jefferson, are ut- terly » beneath the dignity of criticism." Colonel Hannibal of the Russian Artillery' and Fuller, (of Maryland,) an expert arithmeti- cian, were both negroes and deserved, no doubt much credit for their comparative excellence,

« In the year 1734, A. W. Amo took the degree of Doctor in Philosophy at Wittenberg, and produced two well written dissertations.' Lislet, a negro of the Isle of France, having become well informed in the physical sciences was made a corresponding member of the French Academy. Whether a very splendid biographical Dictionary of gteat negroes might be compiled by the atnalgamationists, we know not, but the above names are the principal ones that ive have -been enabled to collect from authors decidedly opposed to the idea that negroes are naturally inferior to white men. " I am inclined," says Dr. S. S« Smith, « to ascribe the apparent dulness of the negroe principally to the wretched state of his existence, first in his original country where he is at once a poor and abject savage, and subjected to an atrocious despotism, and afterwards in those regions to which he is transported to finish his days in slavery and toil. Genius, in order to its cultivation and the advantageous display of its powers, requires freedom. It requires reward, the reward at least of praise, to call it forth, competition to awaken its ardor and examples both to direct its operations, and to prompt its emulation." But how have other nations arisen to civilization and refinement 1 To this question it can only be replied that such effects always result from one of the two follow- ing causes, first, the spontaneous operation of national intellect, within ; or second, by the imitation of, or instructions from, more ci- vilized nations without.

To the influence of one or both of these causes, then, do we attri- bute the refinement of every civilized nation. It is very true that there is no natural intellect, (pardoning the expression,) in Africa, from which the inhabitants can derive benefit, but if their want of civilization is to be explained in this manner, we do not hesitate to acknowledge the correctness of the explanation for that principle is all that we have been endeavouring to establish.

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If genius invariably requires '* competition, and the reward of praise* to awaken its ardor," then it is a settled point that negroes never will exhibit any more genius than what they have already displayed, for they have no reason to fear, among themselves, either here or in Africa, any opposition greatness. And if it is positively required of the African to applaud the merit of his fellow negro, his prospect be- comes yet more gloomy, for there is a remarkable characteristic of the negro mind which precludes the idea that they ever will or can improve in a society composed of their own people, and that is their inveterate envy and jealousy of each other's superiority; and indeed it is notorious that no negro dares to exhibit any superiority of intellect or of education in any place where his brethren have the liberty or opportunity to correct him for such a transgression. In short they are total strangers in their nature to the laudable pride which prompts emulation and whilst the people of other nations not only rejoice and triumph in the success of their meritorious countrymen, but by offer- ing every inducement in their power, continually incite individuals to excellence, — the negroe on the contrary, seems determined to reject all education himself and likewise to throw every obstacle in the way of his fellow. Who ever knew one negro to bemerciful to another or to e-peak well of him ? they really seem to be born with a deep rooted aver- sion to their own sp ecies ; an anomaly so perfect that it has been ob- served of no other race, so that in this at least, we may pronounce them " sui generis." It is said that they are for the most part sufficiently faithful to their masters, in the southern states, which may arise from the awe, which the authoritative air of aristocracy will frequently inspire in uneducated breasts, apart from any definite fear of power, or respect for character. But it is certain that to each other the are cruel treacherous and deceitful.

It cannot be said of all the Africans in their native country that they have had none of the advantages of communication with more refined nations, although it is true that"they have not improved these chances for gaining instruction* and it is not a little remarkable that the most savage and gross tribes of these people are those which are located in the neighbourhood of sea-ports and colonies, whilst the more inland tribes make a much nearer approximation to humanity.

But admitting that they have laboured under almost every circum- stance unfavorable to the budding of intellect ; cannot the same be said of all primitive European, and many Asiatic Nations, which have

29

arisen to pre eminence h> Literature, Science, and the Arts 1 Many Gaelic traditions, as well as more positive evidence, will suffice to show that even the ancient Picts of Scotland were a civilized people com- pared with any 'modern tribe of negroes, and had ihe countries of Eu- rope been thickly peopled at the time when the power of Rome sub- dued them all, they would no doubt have been civilized even then, for there is no record of any part of Europe having remained uncivilized when populous, for any great length of time. But this cannot be said of Africa,— how long has that degraded continent been peopled with numberless small tribes, who even at this late day, are as distinct and insulated as ever ?

There never existed a tribe of whites who were characterized by as much grossness of intellect, listless apathy, sluggishness, and want of national and personal pride, as even the most refined Africans. The latter are far. too low to answer the descriptions which ancient authors have given even of the Goths, Huns, Vandals, and Scythians.

It is believed by many that the ancient people of Egypt were negroes but this supposition hevingbeen founded principally upon the geographical situation of this ancient home of science, and having been based by some upon the Ethioian eountenance of of the famous Sphynx near Djiza, it consequently may be subverted by many pow- erful arguments.

Sir Wm, Lawrence in his review of the various forms of the skull has the following remarks upon the Egyptian controversy,* — il Much uncertainty has prevailed respecting the physical character of the an- cient Egyptians, and some have maintained the opinion that they were negroes. The question is certainly interesting, particularly if it should appear that this opinion is well grounded. That a race ever devoted within the period embraced by authentic history, to slavery, or to an independent existence not much better, and possessing under the most favorable circumstances, only the rudiments of the common arts, and the most imperfect social institutions, should have accomplished in the remotest antiquity, undertakings which astonish us even now by their grandeur, and prove so great a progress in civilization and social life, in arts and sciences,-- — that they should have subsequently lost all traces of this surprising progress, and never have exhibited the smallest approximation to such a pre-eminence in any other instance,

* »' Lectures " page ^S.

t Volney, Pritchard, &c. But Prilchard qualified his belief by saying that "in later ages the Egyptians bore more resemblance to the modern Hindoos."

Would be a fact extremely difficult to explain" * *- * u With oiir present experience of the capacity of the negroes, and our knowledge of the state in which the whole race1 has remained, for twenty centu- ries, can we deem it possible that they should have achieved such pro- digies 1 That Homer, Lycurgus^ Solon, Pythagoras, and Plato, should have resorted to Egypt to study the sciences, religion, and laws, discovered and framed by men with black skins, woolly hair, and slanting foreheads ." There is certainly much meaning in these re- marks which go far to produce scepticism at least, upon the notion that the ancient Egyptians were negroes, even though there were no reasons for supposing a mixed population in that region. This author furthermore alludes to certain mummies, in the possession of, or des- cribed by Blumenbach, Dr. Leach, M. Denon, Cuvier, Soemmering* and others, from which it appears that the Egyptians were decidedly of the Caucasian variety of men, the class to which the present Eu- ropeans belong, for the majority of these mummies bear not the most distant resemblance to the negro race.*

If then, as it appears from the arguments which we have adduced, that the negroes, whether physically or morally considered, are so inferior as to resemble the brute creation as nearly as they do the white species, and if after leaving the abstract views of this question which we have taken, we resort either to past history or to present facts, and find that modern negroes are fair specimens of what their race has always been, is it not strictly just and perfectly consonant with sound reason to infer that wo alteration of their f resent social con- dition would be productive of the least benefit to them, insomuch as no change of their nature can be expected to result therefrom.

If their physical organization will continually prevent them from at- taining a level with the whites, how unreasonable is it in those ene- mies to our country, called " abolitionists," to unloose within the bo- som of this now happy community, a body of such people, a race in- capable of receiving education and of comprehending the terrors of religion, much less of perceiving the value of our majestic system of Law. But more than this, when it is objected to this proposal that if it should go into effect we would eternally have our prisons filled and our public charities consumed because of the inability of the

*JWe cannotbut regret that the limits of this' publication, will not admit us to transcribe the whole of the controversy respecting the Egyptians, much information upon it may be obtaiuod," however, from the following works. Denon's travels, Clark's travels, Lawrence's Lectures, Browne's and fauw's works, from which authors further references may be obtained. 0. "> "~ _"

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nearoes to obtain respectable employments, (the result o, a well founded prejudice,) it is further proposed that the two races shouW by intermarriage fcet amalgamate with each other. Would t not be as reasonable to expect the negroes to amalgamate with that equally va- luable race of inferiors-the orang-outangs i

The negroes themselves could not feel more righteous indignation at this latter proposal, than we do at the other. - Among the Ro- mans," observes Mr. Jefferson,* - emancipation required but one effort The slave, when made free, might mix with, without stmnmg the blood of his master.t But with us a second is necessary, un- known to history, When freed he is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture." But how agreeably and no less ingemously have the de- vout members of the Anti-slavery Society removed all difficulties, " Liberate the negroe^V they exclaim, - consider upon the ways, means, and expediency afterwards, and lastly make him by marriage, or otherwise, one of your family." Truly, by complying with this ad vice, we should after the lapse of a few generations, could we live as long, behold a promising race, hearing about as much affinity to the present Americans, as the offspring of an African and an orang ou- tang would to a negro. We were never before aware of the exist- ence of so much intellect among even the whites, that it should be- come a desideratum to lessen their superiority. But let us vew.the de- testable and disgusting scheme of amalgamation in all its bearings, let us anahze the principle which dictated it, the persons who proposed it. and above all let us consider who are to be benefitted by this revolt, in. attempt to destroy our nationality. How ridiculous will seem the project ! how contemptible the advocates ! how unworthy the object ! provided always that the negroes are, as we know them to be, which indeed appears to he a matter of much uncertainty, among the Aboli-

tionists. i -*• i - -j l

Perhaps our reasons for showing how many physical and moral arguments there are against the supposition, that the negro race ever will improve, are now more obvious ; it may be thought that we wish to keep alive old prejudices, which is partly true ; for, although we do not wish to create any rancorous hatred against the negroes, yet it is but nroper that they should be viewed according to the intention of nature ; so clearly manifested in the organization of these unfortunate

* "Notes on Virginia," Query 14th.

t The case no doubt would have been different had the Roman slaves been negroes,

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subjects of natural history. — Who does not compassionate the mix- ture of natural and acquired depravity, which renders the negro when free, far worse than when in chains, an enemy to himself, and a curse to others 1

44 Try the loudest advocates of the 4 vincibility'- — of this prejudice, as it is most unphilosophically called," observes Dr. James Johnson, "with this touch-stone, 4marry the negresses to your sons, and give your daughters to negroes' — and we shall have a different answer from nature, that we receive from a misplaced religious profession."*

44 In fact they, (the Abolitionists,) believe that the white and

the negro have originally the same origin, and consequently have ori- ginally the same mental capacity. Of their origin we shall say noth- ing, but we cannot persuade ourselves that the mind of the European, and African are equal, or can, or will, by the utmost stretch of human ingenuity, be ever made so.''

We apprehend that the application of Dr. Johnson's touchstone would very shortly alter the tone of professor Wright's 4S handfull of philanthropists"^ for it is not to be supposed that they are actuated by any real sympathy for the negroes, or any love of abstract justice, neither by the " beauty of virtue," or surely they would not endeavor to embroil the white and the black castes of our community, in a con- flict which cannot but terminate in the destruction of one or the other party.

Should the immediate Abolitionists ever succeed, in bringing about such an awful result, let them beware lest they themselves, and not the slave holders, maybe offered up first as a burnt offering, to the Genius of Fanatacism. Their true object is now palpable, like JEros- tratus of old, who fired the temple of Diana, to immortalize his name, so would they, build up their fame, upon their destruction of every thing, at present, noble and glorious in our great Republic.

It is true that the almost unanimous voice of our white population now deprecates the conduct of such unprincipled incendiaries, but the public voice cannot prevent the natural and rapid increase of the blacks, nor the secret efforts of the bigots, (whatever these efforts may be,)

* See " Med, Chirurg. Review," by Jas. Johnson, M. U. No. for July, 1833, art. " Whites and the Blacks," p. 151.

t Consisting of some pitiable maniacs in the Western Reserve College, a few traitors in Massa- chusetts, the erudite officers of the New-York Anti slavery Society, and last, nol least, the worthy professor himself, add to these, the whole negro race, and what a goodly assemblage of philosophi- cal, liberal minded and pious republicans shall we behold; these are the «'soi-disant" imitators of Wilberforce, Howard, and Dodd,

33

There is consequently but one alternative ; let the blacks be removed *c nonens volens" from among us, and when all danger is past — Let the traitors be branded, held up to the execration of all true hearted patriots ; they will then be quite ready to seek refuge beneath that Constitution whose principles they have outraged and abused, whose founders they have villified, whose very existence they have threaten- ed.— And (like the " impure birds of the night," shrinking from public gaze and the light of day,) they will meet their just reward, 14 Full in the sight of Paradise, Beholding Heaven and feeling Hell."

■®-

That the Abolitionists can have no other object than that which we have imputed to them, appears'from their own reasoning and from the expose of their principles, given in their own publications, they ex- plicitly declare that " if it be but just in the abstract to give the slave his freedom, then no considerations of political expediency, or of per- sonal safety should influence us in holding the negroe in subjection !" Now if it can be proved that by giving the negroe his liberty we ac- tually do him an injury, it is obvious to us that it is more an act of piety to keep him in slavery — in which situation no one can deny that there is less inducement to crime, for by being well employed he is kept beyond the reach of temptation,

The Colonizationists have been accused of selfishness, because in advocating the removal of the blacks, they have a view to the benefit of the whites — while in fact, they are striving for the true interest of both. But what is Professor Wright's inducementfor us to become abolitionists 1 It is the most direct appeal to selfishness, that we have yet heard of,— " unless we presevere in this good cause, we need not hope for peace with Heavenl"

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